2013: #7 – Ever After (Kim Harrison)

Title: Ever After
Author: Kim Harrison
Series: Rachel Morgan #11
Format: ARC Paperback
Pages:  448
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
★★★★½ 

The ever-after, the demonic realm that parallels our own, is shrinking, and if it disappears, so does all magic. It’s up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to fix the ever-after before the fragile balance between magic users and humans falls apart.

Of course, there’s also the small fact that Rachel is the one who caused the ley line to rip in the first place, and her life is forfeit unless she can fix it. Not to mention the most powerful demon in the ever-after—the soul-eater Ku’Sox Sha-Ku’ru—has vowed to destroy her, and has kidnapped her friend and her goddaughter as leverage. If Rachel doesn’t give herself up, they will die.

Forced by circumstance, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack—a partnership fraught with dangers of the heart as well as betrayal of the soul—to return to the ever-after and rescue those she loves. One world teeters on the brink of interspecies war, the other on the brink of its very demise—and it’s up to Rachel to keep them both from being destroyed.

My thoughts:

Every time I read one of these books, I get a little sadder because I know this series is winding down to its end. It’s evident in Rachel’s personal story arc. In this book, she doesn’t have any of the people she normally leans on available to her – Ivy’s out of town, Jenks can’t go to the ever-after, and even Al is out of commission. Trent’s help is unreliable, due to other circumstances. So Rachel is left to save not only herself, but the entire ever-after – and magic – as well. Just the fact that she attempts it without a complete breakdown shows tremendous growth in her character. Her actions may seem more reckless, but she’s trying her best to limit the danger to herself.

There are a lot of old familiar faces in this book, some welcome, some not. A few loose ends are tied up, a few long-asked questions are answered. But the book wasn’t perfect. There was some major action, including the death of a significant character, that occurs “off-screen”, and I thought it was a real disservice to that character.  It’s very unusual for such an important plot point to be un-witnessed by Rachel. So why would Harrison do that? Was the book too long, and she needed to cut something? Or is the character not really dead at all? Perhaps that last idea is just wishful thinking.

I’m excited for where this series will go in its last couple of books. Will the ever-after finally stabilize? Will Rachel find a way to save Ivy’s soul? How will her success (or failure) change their relationship? What will happen with Jenks as his children continue to grow and leave the nest? And what the heck will happen with Rachel and Trent? Who will sabotage their truce first?

This is one of the few series (maybe the only!) that still has me waiting anxiously for each book, dieing to read it as soon as possible. The fact that I still feel this way after 11 books is a true testament to the strength of Harrison’s world and character building.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Kim Harrison’s latest in The Hollows series, Ever After, is a spectacular read, combining everything I love about paranormal fiction between two covers is a mean feat but yet again Harrison has come through.”philicityk
  • “Fans are in store for some unexpected things with Ever After and perhaps even for something highly anticipated.My Shelf Confessions
  • “The book as a whole is fabulous. The series arc is moving at a good pace and the book arc was an action packed page turner.”I Smell Sheep

2 thoughts on “2013: #7 – Ever After (Kim Harrison)

  • February 25, 2013 at 9:38 pm
    Permalink

    The way you put it – it seems like there is way too much to wrap up in just one more book! I don’t know how she is going to pull it off and it actually be good and work. I’m going crazy for the next one!
    Pabkins @ My Shelf Confessions

    Reply
    • February 25, 2013 at 9:44 pm
      Permalink

      I heard there’s going to be two more! Or at least I can hope!

      Reply

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